Daily roundup 14 June: Debts, school places, and Birmingham

Low-income families are going without beds, cookers, meals, new clothes and other essential items as they struggle to cope with huge debts run up to pay domestic bills, according to a survey. The Guardian reports that clients of the debt charity Christians Against Poverty had run up an average of £4,500 in debts on rent or utility bills, forcing them on to what the charity described as a "relentless financial tightrope" juggling repayments and basic living costs, leaving many acutely stressed and in deteriorating health.


The proportion of 11-year-olds offered a place at their first-choice secondary school in England is the lowest since 2010, official figures show. The BBC reports that this year, 83.5 per cent of applicants received offers from their first choice schools, down from 84.1 per cent last year. The last time more than 16 per cent of applicants were not offered their first choice was in 2010.


Ofsted has praised efforts to improve children's services in Birmingham with inspectors reporting "notable improvement" after years of failure. The Birmingham Mail reports that inspectors visited the city's children's services department in May and found that progress was being made after speaking with families as well as social workers.


Islington Council has announced new plans for tackling youth crime up until 2020. The Islington Gazette reports that the local authority plans to focus on early intervention by working to stop young people joining gangs - and subsequently commiting offences like using mopeds to steal phones and carrying knives. In the last financial year, 2,417 moped-related offences were recorded in Islington: the most in London by a margin of 590.


Police have launched a search for seven children who have gone missing from a care home. The Mirror reports that the young people, aged between 15 and 17, were picked up during an immigration investigation, but have disappeared from the care home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.